This blog consists of PhotoFeature Stories on artists of all genres, human interest stories, guest blog posts, book reviews, and book excerpts.
CHRIS RICE COOPER is a newspaper writer, feature stories writer, poet, fiction writer, photographer, and painter.
She has a Bachelor's in Criminal Justice and is close to completing her Master's in Creative Writing.
She, her husband Wayne, sons Nicholas and Caleb, cats Nation and Alaska reside in the St. Louis area.

Chris Rice Cooper

Chris on July 28, 2017

Tuesday, March 18, 2014

18-Year-Old Writer Kieryn Nicolas - Writes a Novel at 14, Publishes Her First Novel at 15,

Kieryn Nicolas’ debut
novel Rain was published in May of 2010
by Echelon Press (http://www.echelonpress.com) and
has been successful, which is a rarity considering Nicolas was only 14 years
old when she wrote the novel in just one draft with revisions to complete.

She received an
invitation from a publisher to read her work and ever since she has been a paid
fiction writer who insists on brilliance when it comes to her writing.

“There are two main types of
brilliance that pertain to writing:
brilliant ideas and brilliant wording.
The thing I love about words and stories and writers is this: the best writers have both. And on top of that the best speeches, and
therefore the best speakers, have both, too.”

Nicolas remembers her
first attraction with those brilliant words and ideas: she was only four years old when she began
writing.

“I remember drawing and writing
in an old journal my mom gave me when I was four. I’ve always wanted to write, but in the fifth
grade I decided I wanted to be an author.”

Before she could become
an author she became an avid and voracious reader. Some novels she has more than one copy
of: for example, three copies of Pride
And Prejudice; two copies of An Old Fashioned Girl,Jayne Eyre, and Wuthering Heights; one
copy of Sense & Sensibility and Little Women. Nicolas admits in her blog that reading is
not always a pleasurable or easy thing to do.

“I’d need hours to just sit and
read (Jane Austin book’s) and decode sentences, and those kinds of hours became
increasing sparse as I got to the age where I would feel inclined to read those
kinds of books. I mean, being totally
honest, I want to put them through a sifter. Just to get rid of excess words that
confuse me.”

Nicolas knew the
importance of reading, the importance of understanding different aspects of
reading a novel. It wasn’t until she
read A
Tale Of Two Cities that she learned how to enjoy reading a classical novel.

“For the first few chapters of “A
Tale Of Two Cities” I felt like I was drowning in half-a-page-long sentences,
but then I started to get a feel for the characters, understand who they are,
and their role in the story. I started
to piece together plot threads and hints and foreshadowing and symbols and
social commentary and suddenly the book was so much easier to read.”

The young protégé gets
her ides from watching other people and from her surroundings: she lives in a rural area with her parents,
younger sister, yellow lab, black cat, and ten hens.

“We don’t have neighbors right
next to us and we are surrounded by fields and a forest on the mountain behind
the house.”

While in 8th
grade, Nicolas would take advanced classes, come home, spend time with family,
do her homework, and then, when everyone else was asleep, would write at least
one hour per day.

“I write mostly in my room late
at night. I sit at my desk with my
laptop and write until I can’t keep my eyes open. I used to listen to music when I write, but
now I just put headphones/ear buds on and leave it silent. It helps me block out sound so I can focus
more on what’s going on inside my head.”

The idea for Rain came to her in a dream.

“I had a very bizarre dream
about spies, Australia and friendship.
The rest was a result of brainstorming the next morning.”

After brainstorming, she
found herself captivated by a world of her own making: a world where babies and children are sent to
a special school not to learn spelling or writing, but to learn how to become
spies.

Six months and many
revisions later her novel was finished.
And then she met Karen, the CEO of Echelon Press.

“I met
Karen at a writer’s conference in 8th grade. After we talked for a few minutes she
requested I send her my manuscript. I did, and a few months later I was offered
a contract. After that it was editing,
editing, and then formatting, the eBook release, and finally the paperback.”

Nicolas was not at her
house when the boxes of her book arrived.
But her mother was and she, along with Nicolas’ friends set up a huge
surprise for the new young novelist.

“On Tuesday my friend Katie's
mom picked Katie and me up at school. We, along with Katie's sister Sarah -drove
to my house because Katie's mom had to "pick something up. When we got to
my house I saw the garage--my normal method of entry was closed, so we had to
walk around front. The first thing I saw was my mom standing in front of it,
phone out, ready to take pictures. That's when I saw the boxes stacked on the
patio. I knew what they were immediately, and felt myself stumble backwards.
Mom got a few good pictures of me with my hands on my head staring with eyes
wider than Bambi's.”

One of the traits that
make her novel stick out is not only three-dimensional characters but also the
dialogue, which is described as crafty at the very least; but her favorite part
of writing is when she is inside the character’s mind.

“If I had to choose another
favorite thing about Rain, or my writing in general, it would be writing the
scenes/moments where my main character is unsure of herself/himself. I’m inside
my character’s head, so I can make the scene as crazy and confusing as I want
to reflect the emotions the character feels, and that’s fun.”

She modeled Mel/Amber,
the main character of the book after her own self.

“She’s a bit like I was in
elementary school – bold, stubborn, contrary, and such a tomboy.”

Instead of eating candy,
popcorn, or chocolate, Mel thrives on granola bars. Instead of dreaming to go to the high school
dance, Mel dreams of becoming the best spy she ever could be; even better than
James Bond.

The novel starts when
Mel is 15 years old, in its wonderful monologue and then in Chapter 1
backtracks five years where Mel first meets Ray/Anthony.

“I’m not sure where Ray came from: maybe a mix of my friends of the male
persuasion, because they all have their respective awesome traits.”

There are also Mel’s
friends, some annoying some quite likable.

“Caidy is a funny story. I have a good friend named Katie, but when I
first met Katie (and while I was writing Rain) I didn’t like Katie. So I based a character off of her. I laugh now, looking back on it, because it
made it so much fun to write.”

The editing process for
Nicolas was not always fun: she had to
delete many things; some things she felt were important.

If she could make any
changes it would be to revise the story line of Mel and Ray’s relationship,
which hints at the romantic. She would
also write more action-sequence scenes for Mel.

Nicolas
has many ideas for novels, including a sequel to Rain, specifically focusing on
Mel and Ray.

“I do
have a sequel storyboarded, but I’m not sure if I will finish it. I feel like Rain ended on a good note for
now. However, Mel is one of my
absolutely favorite characters to write, so there is a chance I’ll revisit the
idea.”